78 



A DISCOURSE 



HOOK I, medicinal virtues, and other uses ,• always excepting our learned coun- 

 "^^f^^ tryman Mr. llay, whose incomparable work omits nothing useful or de- 

 sirable on this subject, wanting only the accomplishments of well- designed 

 sculps. 



3. I shall not need to repeat what has already been said, chap. ii. con- 



provided to go up one side of the row and down the other, to plough the ridges made by 

 the double-shelving plough, into their former places ; men following with hoes to destroy such 

 weeds as are near the stems of the trees. Thus ■will the whole scene be changed again ; 

 the ground will appear as new tilled ; and in this condition it may remain until the weeds 

 call for the double-shelving plough a second time, which must also be followed alternately 

 with the common plough, as occasion may require. By this means the ground will not only 

 be kept clean of weeds, but the earth, by constant stirring, will be more replete with nou- 

 rishing juices, the gentle showers will produce their good effects, the sun will have his 

 influence, and all the powers of vegetation will combine to nourish and set forward the 

 infant Oak. This work must be repeated every year, until the Oaks are of a height suffi- 

 cient to destroy the weeds, which may be, perhaps, in three or four years, according to 

 the goodness of the ground in which they are planted. 



When it is thought advisable to raise an Oak wood from the acorn, let the following 

 directions be observed : 



Having the ground prepared, as before directed, for the reception of the young Oak 

 plants, and having a sufficient quantity of acorns, all gathered from the most vigorous, 

 healthy, and thriving trees, proceed to their setting in the following manner ; In the 

 months of February and March, let lines be drawn across the ground for the rows, at the 

 distance of four feet from each other ; but if this be thought too great an interval, the 

 rows may be made at three feet, in which case the acorns must be put down at a greater 

 distance from each other. Then having sticks properly rounded to make the holes, plant 

 the acorns by the side of the lines, at the distance of ten inches asunder : let them be put 

 down about two inches below the surface, and see that the earth be properly closed by 

 the planting- stick, to prevent the mice, or crows, from injuring the seed. In some places 

 it is customary to sow the acorns after the plough ; but where the ground happens to be 

 stiff, great care should be taken not to cover the seed with too thick a furrow. As in this 

 manner of sowing, the plants will come up veiy irregular, the mode of thinning must be 

 left to the discretion of the planter. 



The first year after planting the acorns, the weeds must be kept down by hoeing and 

 hand-weeding ; and this must be done early in the spring before the weeds get so strong 

 as to hide the tender plants, which would occasion many of them to be destroyed in clean- 

 ing. It is also the cheapest, as well as the neatest husbandry, to take weeds down before 

 they grow too large; for though the ground may require an additional hoeing in the 

 spring, yet the weeds being hoed down when young, a man may hoe over a great quan- 

 tity of ground in a day : weeds cut in their tender state immediately die ; whereas when 



